Recycling mobile phone impact on life cycle assessment

Abstract

Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world due to the rapid pace of technology enhancement and development. The exponential growth of e-waste contributes to a rapid increase in the rate of contaminants and waste entering landfills. This paper assesses the waste produced from the recycling of mobile phones in different countries highlighting the material flows and the amount of waste released to the environment. A comparison of mobile phone Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) recycling through the formal recycling facilities in Malaysia and Australia were used as case studies. The results presented highlight the toxicity of waste and the impact to the environment. A life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was carried out focusing on the end-of-life (EOL) phase of mobile phone PCBs. The IMPACT 2002+ version 2.10 was used as the assessment tool to indicate the environmental impacts quantitatively. The results show the toxicity of the waste produced from the mobile phone PCBs recycling in Malaysia and Australia. This study identifies that the demand for recycled materials, law enforcement, and the e-waste recycling system are significant drivers to reduce the environmental impact of mobile phone recycling.